Showing papers by "Amazon.com published in 2000"

Global warming and tropical land-use change: greenhouse gas emissions from biomass burning, decomposition and soils in forest conversion, shifting cultivation and secondary vegetation

Abstract: Tropical forest conversion, shifting cultivation and clearing of secondary vegetation make significant contributions to global emissions of greenhouse gases today, and have the potential for large additional emissions in future decades. Globally, an estimated 3:1 10 9 t of biomass carbon of these types is exposed to burning annually, of which 1:1 10 9 t is emitted to the atmosphere through combustion and 49 10 6 t is converted to charcoal (including 26-31 10 6 t C of black carbon). The amount of biomass exposed to burning includes aboveground remains that failed to burn or decom- pose from clearing in previous years, and therefore exceeds the 1:9 10 9 t of aboveground biomass carbon cleared on average each year. Above- and belowground carbon emitted annually through decomposition processes totals 2:1 10 9 t C. A total gross emission (including decomposition of unburned aboveground biomass and of belowground biomass) of 3:41 10 9 t C year 1 results from clearing primary (nonfallow) and secondary (fallow) vegetation in the tropics. Adjustment for trace gas emissions using IPCC Second Assessment Report 100-year integration global warming potentials makes this equivalent to 3:39 10 9 to f CO 2-equivalent carbon under a low trace gas scenario and 3:8310 9 t under a high trace gas scenario. Of these totals, 1:0610 9 t (31%) is the result of biomass burning under the low trace gas scenario and 1:50 10 9 t (39%) under the high trace gas scenario. The net emissions from all clearing of natural vegetation and of secondary forests (including both biomass and soil fluxes) is 2:0 10 9 t C, equivalent to 2.0-2:4 10 9 to f CO 2-equivalent carbon. Adding emissions of 0:4 10 9 t C from land-use category changes other than deforestation brings the total for land-use change (not considering uptake of intact forest, recurrent burning of savannas or fires in intact forests) to 2 :4 10 9 t C, equivalent to 2.4-2:9 10 9 to f CO 2-equivalent carbon. The total net emission of carbon from the tropical land uses considered here (2:4 10 9 t C year 1 ) calculated for the 1981-1990 period is 50% higher than the 1:6 10 9 t C year 1 value used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The inferred (D 'missing') sink in the global carbon budget is larger than previously thought. However, about half of the additional source suggested here may be offset by a possible sink in uptake by Amazonian forests. Both alterations indicate that continued deforestation would produce greater impact on global carbon emissions. The total net emission of carbon calculated here indicates a major global warming impact from tropical land uses, equivalent to approximately 29% of the total anthropogenic emission from fossil fuels and land-use change.

System and method for locating web-based product offerings

Abstract: A search engine system assists users in locating web pages from which user-specified products can be purchased. Web pages located by a crawler program are scored, based on a set of rules, according to likelihood of including an online product offering. A query server accesses an index of the scored web pages to locate pages that are both responsive to a user's search query and likely to include a product offering. In one embodiment, the responsive web pages are listed on a composite search results page together with products that satisfy the query.

Search query refinement using related search phrases

Abstract: A search engine system uses information about historical query submissions to a search engine to suggest previously-submitted, related search phrases to users. The related search phrases are preferably suggested based on a most recent set of query submission data (e.g., the last two weeks of submissions), and thus strongly reflect the current searching patterns or interests of users. The system is preferably implemented within a search engine used to locate items that are available for electronic purchase, but may be implemented within other types of search engines. In one embodiment, the related search phrases are scored and selected for display based at least in-part on an evaluation of the “usefulness” of each search phrase, as reflected by actions performed by prior users while viewing the corresponding search results.

Methods and systems for distributing information within a dynamically defined community

Abstract: One embodiment of the present invention distributes data via a network to remotely located users. Historical purchase information for a first user is stored in a database. Authorization is received over a network from the first user allowing a second user to view at least a portion of the historical purchase information. In addition, the first user selectively specifies which historical purchase information may be viewed by the second customer. An electronic notification is transmitted to the second user, wherein the notification informs the second user of the first user's authorization.

Methods and systems of obtaining consumer reviews

Abstract: One embodiment of the present invention is a system and method of encouraging customers to review purchased items. Customers are provided with review requests a predetermined amount of time after the customer has purchased an item or had the item delivered. The predetermined amount of time is related to an estimated time it will take the customer to evaluate the item. The reviews may include textual reviews that are presented to other customers and/or item ratings that are used to generate personal recommendations.

Forest loss and fragmentation in the Amazon: implications for wildlife conservation.

Abstract: Amazonian forests are experiencing rapid, unprecedented changes that are having major impacts on wildlife, regional hydrology and the global climate. Rates of deforestation and logging have accelerated in recent years and patterns of forest loss are changing, with extensive new highways providing conduits for settlers and loggers into the heart of the Amazon basin. These myriad changes are causing widespread fragmentation of forests. Fragmented landscapes in the Amazon experience diverse changes in forest dynamics, structure, composition and microclimate, and are highly vulnerable to droughts and fires—alterations that negatively affect a wide variety of animal species. In human-dominated lands intensive hunting may interact synergistically with fragmentation to further threaten wildlife populations.

Accounting for time in mitigating global warming through land- use change and forestry

Abstract: Many proposed activities formitigating global warming in the land-use change and forestry(LUCF) sector differ from measures to avoid fossilfuel emissions because carbon (C) may be held out ofthe atmosphere only temporarily. In addition, thetiming of the effects is usually different. Many LUCFactivities alter C fluxes to and from the atmosphereseveral decades into the future, whereas fossil fuelemissions avoidance has immediate effects. Non-CO2 greenhouse gases (GHGs), which are animportant part of emissions from deforestation inlow-latitude regions, also pose complications forcomparisons between fossil fuel and LUCF, since themechanism generally used to compare these gases(global warming potentials) assumes simultaneousemissions. A common numeraire is needed to expressglobal warming mitigation benefits of different kindsof projects, such as fossil fuel emissions reduction,C sequestration in forest plantations, avoideddeforestation by creating protected areas and throughpolicy changes to slow rates of land-use changes suchas clearing. Megagram (Mg)-year (also known as`ton-year') accounting provides a mechanism forexpressing the benefits of activities such as these ona consistent basis. One can calculate the atmosphericload of each GHG that will be present in each year,expressed as C in the form of CO2 and itsinstantaneous impact equivalent contributed by othergases. The atmospheric load of CO2-equivalent Cpresent over a time horizon is a possible indicator ofthe climatic impact of the emission that placed thisload in the atmosphere. Conversely, this index alsoprovides a measure of the benefit of notproducing the emission. One accounting methodcompares sequestered CO2 in trees with theCO2 that would be in the atmosphere had thesequestration project not been undertaken, whileanother method (used in this paper) compares theatmospheric load of C (or equivalent in non-CO2GHGs) in both project and no-project scenarios.Time preference, expressed by means of a discount rateon C, can be applied to Mg-year equivalencecalculations to allow societal decisions regarding thevalue of time to be integrated into the system forcalculating global warming impacts and benefits. Giving a high value to time, either by raising thediscount rate or by shortening the time horizon,increases the value attributed to temporarysequestration (such as many forest plantationprojects). A high value for time also favorsmitigation measures that have rapid effects (such asslowing deforestation rates) as compared to measuresthat only affect emissions years in the future (suchas creating protected areas in countries with largeareas of remaining forest). Decisions on temporalissues will guide mitigation efforts towards optionsthat may or may not be desirable on the basis ofsocial and environmental effects in spheres other thanglobal warming. How sustainable development criteriaare incorporated into the approval and creditingsystems for activities under the Kyoto Protocol willdetermine the overall environmental and social impactsof pending decisions on temporal issues.

Scaling effects on hypoxia tolerance in the Amazon fish Astronotus ocellatus (Perciformes: Cichlidae): contribution of tissue enzyme levels.

Abstract: Astronotus ocellatus is one of the most hypoxia tolerant fish of the Amazon; adult animals can tolerate up to 6 h of anoxia at 28°C. Changes in energy metabolism during growth have been reported in many fish species and may reflect the way organisms deal with environmental constraints. We have analyzed enzyme levels (lactate dehydrogenase, LDH: EC 1.1.1.27; and malate dehydrogenase, MDH: EC 1.1.1.37) in four different tissues (white muscle, heart, liver, and brain) from different-sized animals. Both enzymes correlate with body size, increasing the anaerobic potential positively with growth. To our knowledge, this is the first description of scaling effects on hypoxia tolerance and it is interesting to explore the fact that hypoxia survivorship increases due to combining effects of suppressing metabolic rates and increasing anaerobic power as fish grow.

Sharing information about purchases

Abstract: A facility for notifying a first user about a purchase made by a second user is described. The facility detects that the second user has purchased an item. The facility further determines that the first user has a purchase notification relationship with the second user. The facility then provides to the first user a notification that the second user has purchased the item.

System and method for correcting spelling errors in search queries using both matching and non-matching search terms

Abstract: A search engine process is disclosed for predicting the correct spelling of search terms within multiple-term search queries. In one embodiment, when a user submits a multiple-term search query that includes a non-matching term and at least one matching term, a table is accessed to look up a set of terms that are “related” to the matching term or terms. A spelling comparison function is then used to determine whether any of these related terms is sufficiently similar in spelling to the non-matching term to be deemed a candidate correctly-spelled replacement. A candidate replacement term may automatically be substituted for the non-matching term, or may be suggested to the user as a replacement. The invention also includes a process for identifying terms that are related to each other based on the relatively high frequencies with which they co-occur within search queries of users, database records, and/or specific database fields.

Organic phosphates in the red blood cells of fish.

Abstract: Fish are dependent on aerobic metabolism. They respond to changes in oxygen availability by a wide spectrum of compensatory and respiratory adjustments to safeguard tissue oxygenation. Such adjustments are directed to facilitate both oxygen uptake at the gas exchange surfaces and oxygen unloading to tissues. The importance of erythrocytic organic phosphates as regards oxygen transfer has been recognised since 1967 when the ‘dramatic’ effect of 2,3DPG on human haemoglobin was first reported. The present review examines the appearance of all the major erythrocytic organic phosphates during the evolutionary radiation of fish. In addition, it provides examples illustrating qualitative and quantitative ontogenetic changes of organic phosphates in the red blood cell of several fish species and describes their effects on oxygen affinities. The interaction of the organic phosphates with haemoglobins and divalent cations are also examined. Of particular interest is the regulation of erythrocytic organic phosphates according to both environmental and physiological conditions.

Method and system for publicizing commercial transactions on a computer network

Abstract: A computer method and system for publicizing commercial transactions. To publicize a commercial transaction, the system (“e-commerce system”) receives a selection of a purchase transaction for a first item. The e-commerce system identifies an auction for a second item such that the second item is related to the first item. For example, the first item may be a kayak, and the second item may be a kayak cover. The e-commerce system then generates a display description (e.g., web page) that includes information for conducting the purchase transaction for the first item and that includes information relating to the auction for the second item. In this way, a user who views information relating to the purchase transaction can also view information relating to the auction.

System and method for locating and displaying web-based product offerings

Abstract: A search engine system (130) displays the results of a multiple-category search according to levels of relevance of the categories to a user's search query. A query server (140) receives a search query (620) from a user (110) and identifies, within each of multiple item categories, a set of items that satisfy the query (640). The sets of items are then used to generate, for each of the multiple categories, a score that indicates a level significance or relevance of the category to the search (650). The scores may be based, for example, on the number of hits (items satisfying the query) within each category relative to the total number of items in that category, the popularity levels of items (756) that satisfy the query, or a combination thereof. The categories are then presented to the user, together with the most relevant items within each category, in the order of highest to lowest category relevance (660). The search engine also implements a feature for assisting users in locating web pages from which user-specified products can be purchased. Web pages (167) located by a crawler program (160) are scored, based on a set of rules, according to likelihood of including an online product offering (170). A query server (140) accesses an index (147) of the scored web pages to locate pages that are both responsive to a user's search query and likely to include a product offering. In one embodiment, the responsive web pages are listed on a composite search results page (300) together with products that satisfy the query.

System and methods for browsing a database of items and conducting associated transactions

Abstract: An electronic commerce system provides various features for assisting customers in locating items and generating orders from a merchant's electronic catalog, and for assisting customers and merchants in communicating about such orders. A user-definable categories feature allows customers and/or merchants to define search queries for searching the electronic catalog, and to store these search queries under user-defined category names for subsequent use.

Flowering phenology of a palm community in a central Amazon forest.

Abstract: The flowering phenology of 27 taxa of palms in a lowland moist forest in the central Amazon was recorded over a 40 month period. Phenological data were transformed into measures, of synchrony, regularity, and duration. Flowering was observed at all times of year and there was no correlation with rainfall either for the current month or for any monthly lag interval. The 27 taxa were divided into three pollination groups—weevil, bee/fly, or beetle—based on their behavior at anthesis. Phenology was significantly correlated with pollination groups. Weevilpollinated palms had higher synchrony and shorter duration of flowering than other groups. Bee/fly-pollinated palms had lower synchrony and longer duration of flowering. The beetle-pollinated palms were intermediate between the two other groups. Seasonal regularity of flowering was similar in all three groups. We suggest that, at least inBactris, taxa exhibit staggered flowering.

A contribution to the chemical characterization of rivers in the Rio Negro Basin, Brazil

Abstract: Water samples were collected in Middle Amazonia from the Amazon River, Rio Negro and 17 tributaries of Rio Negro. The analyses consisted of pH, conductivity, and dissolved organic (DOC) measurements, as well as plasma source mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Factor analysis revealed three factors, which explained 94% of the total variance. A plot of factor scores presented a cluster containing mostly samples from the Rio Negro Basin. Ultrafiltration tests confirmed that organics from the Rio Negro have higher molecular mass than in the Amazon, and that some metals are associated with these compounds. Heavy rare-earth elements (REE) are enriched relative to light REE in the dissolved fraction of most rivers of the Negro Basin; the opposite occurred in suspended matter.

Extraction of bank routing number from information entered by a user

Abstract: A computer-implemented method is disclosed for extracting a user's bank account information from information entered by the user from the face of a check. The extracted information may be used to electronically transfer funds to or from the user's bank account. The method may be embodied within a web site system, a telephone-based voice prompting system, or another type of interactive computer system of a business entity, and provides an alternative to requiring the user to mail a voided check. The method involves receiving from the user a magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) line, and identifying a contiguous string of characters within the MICR line that satisfies a checksum test. The resulting string is stored as the bank routing number for the user. A check number and an account number may also be received from the user, in which case a test is performed to verify that the check number, the account number, and the bank routing number all coexist within the MICR line. In a preferred embodiment, the method is used to facilitate the transfer of funds between buyers and sellers in an electronic commerce system that provides a marketplace for users to buy and sell goods, such as an online auctions system or a “flea market” system. In this embodiment, when a buyer purchases one or more items from a seller, the buyer's credit card account is charged to collect funds for the purchase, and at least a portion of the collected funds is deposited into the bank account of the seller using the extracted bank routing number.

Placing a purchase order using one of multiple procurement options

Abstract: A method and system for placing an order to purchase an item via the Internet. The order is placed by a user at a client system and received by a server system. The client system can display information identifying the item and, for each of multiple procurement options having information related to ordering the identified item, can display an indication of the procurement option such that selection of the displayed indication represents an ordering of the identified item using the information of the procurement option. In response to selection of a displayed indication, the client system can send to a server computer a request to order the identified item using the information of the procurement option for the selected indication.

Mega-Development Trends in the Amazon: Implications for Global Change

Abstract: This paper describes four global-change phenomena that are having major impacts on Amazonian forests. The first is accelerating deforestation and logging. Despite recent government initiatives to slow forest loss, deforestation rates in Brazilian Amazonia have increased from 1.1 million ha yr−1 in the early 1990s, to nearly 1.5 million ha yr−1 from 1992–1994, and to more than 1.9 million ha yr−1 from 1995–1998. Deforestation is also occurring rapidly in some other parts of the Amazon Basin, such as in Bolivia and Ecuador, while industrialized logging is increasing dramatically in the Guianas and central Amazonia.

Method and apparatus for changing temporal database information

Abstract: A method and apparatus accepts a query to update or delete rows in a temporal table of a database. The query may describe which rows are to be updated, a calculation for the value to be used to update each row of the table, and a period of validity, during which the changes are to take place. The method and apparatus creates a sequence of queries and SQL program elements that together can make up an SQL program that will execute the query received. The SQL program can split any row of the table to be updated into multiple rows so that each of the multiple rows of the table to be changed have an effective period during which no changes occur in the table to be changed or any other tables referenced in the query received and no effective periods span the beginning or the end of the period of validity. The specified change may then be made to the resulting rows, and rows that are adjacent in time with identical values may be collapsed into a single row. The result is inserted into the table to be changed and the corresponding original rows in the table to be changed are deleted. The method and apparatus operates for queries received to update or delete a table.

Uncertainty in land-use change and forestry sector mitigation options for global warming: Plantation silviculture versus avoided deforestation

Abstract: How land-use change and forestry sector options can be used to mitigate global warming will depend on a variety of pending decisions regarding interpretation of the Kyoto Protocol, including treatment of uncertainty. In tropical forest countries, the allocation of effort between plantation silviculture and reduction of deforestation would be influenced by the stringency of requirements regarding certainty. Slowing deforestation offers much greater potential benefits, but the certainty associated with these is much lower than in the case of plantations. In the Brazilian case, deforestation avoidance could produce carbon benefits worth 6–45 times as much as the destructive ranching and logging uses to which the forest is now being converted. Capturing the potential value of carbon benefits from avoided deforestation will depend on increasing our understanding of the deforestation process and consequent ability to reduce the uncertainty associated with the effects of deforestation-avoidance measures. It will also depend on whether carbon credits are defined in terms of a maximum level of uncertainty.

Pollination of Bactris (Palmae) in an Amazon forest.

Abstract: Phenology, inflorescence behavior, and pollination of 10 sympatric taxa ofBactris were studied in a lowland Amazon forest. Taxa flowered over an eight month period during the rainy season and early dry season, but individual taxa flowered for one to a few months. Related taxa had mostly non-overlapping flowering periods. Inflorescence behavior was similar for all taxa, with nocturnal pistillate anthesis and temperature elevation, followed 24 hours later by rapid, nocturnal staminate anthesis. Pollinators of all taxa were small weevilsPhyllotrox (Curculionidae) and nitidulidsColopterus (Nitidulidae), although various other insect visitors were recorded. Large numbers ofPhyllotrox were recorded on inflorescences, but weevil sex ratios were highly skewed.

Method and system for authenticating users when conducting commercial transactions using a computer

Abstract: A method and system for authenticating users while conducting an auction via a computer system. The system can automatically authenticate users who have previously registered with the auction system and who have enabled automatic authentication. When a user is registered, the system may store authentication information in a cookie on the user's computer. When the user decides to perform a transaction (e.g., list item auction or place a bid for an item) that requires authentication, the system retrieves the stored authentication information. If automatic authentication is enabled, then the system allows the transaction to proceed without manual authentication. If, however, automatic authentication is not enabled or the system does not recognize the stored authentication information, then the system requests manual authentication. The use of automatic authentication allows a user to enter information relating to a transaction without manually entering any identification information. The system also defers manual authentication until a transaction is ready to proceed.

Automatically initiating product replenishment

Abstract: A facility for automatically initiating product replenishment is described. The facility receives an indication of an order by a consumer for a first item having a first date, such as the date on which the first item was placed or fulfilled. The facility then determines a target date for replenishment based upon the identity of the first item. On the target date, the facility provides to the consumer an indication that the first item should be replenished. The indication includes a control useable by the customer to request replenishment of the first item. When this control is operated by the consumer, the facility receives an indication that the control is used by the consumer to request replenishment of the first item. In response to receiving indication the facility orders a second item to replenish the first item.

Use of an intermediary to securely provide customer information to third party internet merchants

Abstract: The present invention provides a system and associated methods in which an information service (114) serves as an intermediary for storing and providing customer (102) information, such as payment and shipping information, to third party Internet merchants (312). In a preferred embodiment, the information service solicits customer (102) information from customers (102) and associates the customer (102) information with a user ID and a password. The information service stores the customer (102) information and associated user ID and password in a database accessible to an information service (114) server computer. An Internet merchant sets up a merchant web site (104) through which it solicits customers (102) to make purchases. In conjunction with displaying an option to make a purchase on a web page, the merchant provides an option to use the information service (114) to supply payment and/or shipping information. If the customer (102) chooses to use the information service (114), the information service (114) authenticates (310) the customer and provides the customer information (preferably in encrypted form) to the merchant (312). Transfers of the customer information may alternatively be initiated by the user during browsing of the information service (114) web site. The merchants (104) may optionally report information about the customer's purchases back to the information service (114), which may incorporate the information into a history page that is accessible to the customer (102). The information service may also use the aggregated purchase history data to generate an 'interests' profile for the customer, which may be disseminated to the merchants and used to customize their web sites.

How Well Does Brazil's Environmental Law Work in Practice? Environmental Impact Assessment and the Case of the Itapiranga Private Sustainable Logging Plan

Abstract: / The Itapiranga Sustainable Logging Plan provides an example of how Brazil's licensing system functions for logging companies in the state of Amazonas. Two questions need to be dealt with: "How sustainable can logging in the Amazon be?" and "What and how effective are existing legal mechanisms to deal with logging projects?" The environmental impact assessment (EIA) and environmental impact statement (EIS, known as the RIMA in Brazil), present relatively detailed accounts of biodiversity and the need to adopt conservation strategies to protect it. However, social and health impacts are only superficially addressed. The economic sustainability of the operation over multiple cycles is not demonstrated. The multidisciplinary teams responsible for the EIA and EIS (RIMA) reports are hired by the project proponent, an arrangement inherently carrying the risk of biasing the result. Logging reduces biodiversity, releases greenhouse gases and inflicts social and health costs. These impacts reduce the ability of Amazonian forests to provide environmental services and to supply food and livelihood security to local populations. The reports inflate positive effects such as employment: the estimated number of jobs was cut by more than half in a revision made after the EIA and EIS (RIMA) had been approved. Not only do the reports need to be more realistic in assessing both positive and negative consequences of proposed projects, but better means are needed to ensure that promised mitigatory measures are enforced in practice. Many of the lessons that can be drawn from the Itapiranga Plan are not unique to logging projects and apply to licensing of development activites generally in Brazil and elsewhere.

Biologia reprodutiva do Camarão Macrobrachium brasiliense (Heller, 1862) (Crustacea: Decapoda: Palaemonidae) em Igarapés de terra firme da Amazônia Peruana

Abstract: Foi estudada a biologia reprodutiva de Macrobrachium brasiliense (Decapoda: Palaemonidae) com base em 2604 individuos coletados entre outubro de 1994 e agosto de 1995, em dois igarapes de terra firme da estrada Iquitos-Nauta, Loreto (Amazonia peruana) A proporcao sexual femea: macho foi de 1,7:1 sendo que as femeas foram um pouco mais abundantes que os machos durante todo o periodo de coleta M brasiliense apresentou dimorfismo sexual no comprimento cefalotoracico, sendo as femeas ligeiramente menores que os machos A reproducao foi continua, com o pico reprodutivo entre abril e julho A fecundidade variou de 15 a 168 ovos por femea, observando-se uma relacao significativa entre a fecundidade e o comprimento cefalotoracico e o peso O volume do ovo nao apresentou relacao significativa com o comprimento cefalotoracico e a fecundidade

Selecting prospective bidders to whom to promote an online auction based upon bidding history

Abstract: A facility for identifying users to whom to promote a selected auction is described. The facility maintains a representation of bidding histories of a plurality of users. At a point at which certain users have already bid in the selected auction, the facility identifies users that have not already bid in the selected auction that have bidding histories that are similar to those of users that have already bid in the selected auction. The facility then promotes the selected auction to the identified users.

Automatically identifying similar purchasing opportunities

Abstract: A facility for identifying purchasing opportunities within a set of purchasing opportunities that are similar to a distinguished purchasing opportunity is described The distinguished purchasing opportunity has descriptive information associated with it For each of several terms occurring in this descriptive information, the facility generates a term score Each term score reflects the extent to which the occurrence of the term and the descriptive information associated with the distinguished purchasing opportunity differentiates the distinguished purchasing opportunity from auto purchasing opportunities in the set The facility then selects as key words the terms occurring in the descriptive information associated with the distinguished purchasing opportunity that have the highest term scores The facility identifies purchasing opportunities of the set containing the selected key words, and establishes a purchasing opportunity score for each identified purchasing opportunity by summing the term score of the key words occurring in information associated with the identified purchasing opportunities